Meal Delivery for Seniors

Meal Delivery Services for Seniors

In addition to the many modern services, there are a few meal delivery services tailored specifically to older adults. Here is a closer look at my favorites.

Silver Cuisine

Silver Cuisine is a meal delivery service specially designed to offer balanced nutrition for people aged 50 and over. The company is a great way to feed your older loved one and ensure they get the nutrients they need. You can find out more by reading my Silver Cuisine review.

Cost: Expect to pay around $9 for breakfast and $12 for lunch or a main course.

Diets: Silver Cuisine offers meals for several specialty diets. You can choose from gluten-free, low-carb, low-sodium, heart-healthy, diabetic, menopause-friendly, dairy-free, vegetarian, and Mediterranean-inspired meals.

Ordering: Choose the meals you’d like online or call to place an order.

Delivery: Orders are shipped Monday to Wednesday and arrive in two to five business days, depending on your location. Shipping is $19.95 for all orders.

Magic Kitchen

Magic Kitchen offers a wide variety of nutritious meals with no artificial preservatives. It also offers a plan specifically geared toward seniors. You can choose an a la carte menu, which means you can mix and match as you please, or a complete meal bundle that includes main dishes and sides. You can also set up a meal plan to get regular deliveries, and Magic Kitchen will choose the menu based on your preferences.

Cost: Expect to pay around $9 to $12 for breakfast and $13 to $16 for a main course. Many options are sold in two-serving pairs, though, so you actually pay around $30 for the main courses you order. If you’re on a three-meals-a-day plan, expect to pay between $246 and $275 every seven days.

Diets: Magic Kitchen caters to diabetic, dairy-free, gluten-free, low-carb, low-fat, low-sodium, and vegetarian diets. It also offers Weight Watchers–compatible options and a senior-specific meal plan designed to provide the right nutrition to older adults.

Ordering: Order online, by phone, or by email.

Delivery: Shipping costs are determined by your location and the weight of your order. Packages generally arrive within four business days, but you can opt for FedEx air delivery for quicker service. You can also select your exact delivery date.

Meal Prep Kits

If you’d prefer to skip the grocery store but you still enjoy cooking, then one of these meal prep subscriptions may be just what you’re looking for. Here are my favorite options for prepackaged ingredients delivered straight to your door.

Hello Fresh

HelloFresh allows you to do a bit of cooking with its convenient meal kits, which provide everything you need to make a complete and healthy meal, including simple, detailed instructions. The best part about this service is you have a choice of 20 recipes within whichever dietary preference you choose.

HelloFresh is a good option if you don’t want the burden of grocery shopping, but you still enjoy light cooking and want to ensure you’re getting a balanced diet.

Cost: Two meals for five days a week costs around $8.99 per meal.

Diets: HelloFresh offers standard meat-and-veggie, vegetarian, family-friendly (which works great for picky eaters), calorie-smart, quick-and-easy, and pescatarian options.

Ordering: You can select both your meals and meal plan through the HelloFresh website or the company’s smartphone app.

Delivery: When you type in your ZIP code, you can choose from a few days to have your meals delivered right to your doorstep.

Sunbasket

Sunbasket works with local farmers to provide meals that include fresh, seasonal produce. The company allows mixing and matching between meal plans, so if you see something interesting from the paleo diet meals, for example, you can order it even if you don’t usually adhere to that diet.

Cost: Two meals for five days a week costs around $11.99 per meal.

Diets: Sunbasket offers vegetarian, gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, carb-conscious, organic, pescatarian, paleo, and Mediterranean plans. You can also mix and match meals to create your own custom plan.

Ordering: You choose your meals for the week using the company’s online platform.

Delivery: Sunbasket delivers your meals cold-packed to your doorstep.

Green Chef

What sets Green Chef apart is its dedication to using only organic products, which is thought to be beneficial for overall health. It offers only three dietary options, though, which is fairly strict. If you are committed to an organic lifestyle, it can be a great option.

Cost: Depending on the diet plan you choose, Green Chef costs between $9.99 and $12.99 per meal.

Diets: Green Chef offers three diet plans: Keto + Paleo, Balanced Living, and Vegetarian, all of which are diets you should consult your doctor about before switching. Not all seniors need a plant-based diet, for instance, but it can lower cholesterol and blood pressure for some people.

Ordering: The Green Chef website is intuitive and easy to navigate to set up a plan.

Delivery: Green Chef delivers your weekly meals once per week to pretty much anywhere in the United States except Alaska, Hawaii, and some parts of Louisiana.

No Preparation Meal Delivery Services

If cooking is not your thing, then you’re in luck — some meal delivery services offer food that has already been prepared and packaged. All you need to do is heat it in either a microwave or oven.

Freshology

Freshology makes it easy to eat a healthy diet. Its menus are designed to be nutritious, delicious, and healthy. Each dietician-designed meal comes packaged and ready to heat and eat. You can easily manage your account online, and you can change your plan and pause or restart service whenever you like — perfect for people who travel often.

Cost: A typical plan of two meals a day for five days a week costs around $12.20 per meal.

Diets: Freshology customers can choose from four plans. Balance is a heart-healthy, calorie-controlled plan that offers nutrition for all tastes. The company also has a plan designed to make it easier to manage diabetes by providing heart-healthy choices that keep blood sugar in check. Its Keto-Carb30 plan is designed for people who prefer low-carb options, and it’s fully keto-friendly. It also offers a vegetarian option that eliminates meat in favor of beans, dairy, and a little soy.

Ordering: Start by entering your ZIP code to find out if delivery is available in your area, then simply pick your plan and how many meals you want to be delivered. The site will let you know how many days your delivery will take to arrive.

Delivery: When you enter your ZIP code, you’ll see your delivery options. Some locations also offer a pick-up option.

Diet-to-Go

Diet-to-Go is all about healthy eating. Its meal delivery service makes it easy to enjoy healthy, portion-controlled meals that can help with weight management. One of Diet-to-Go’s best features is that its customers also get free access to a health coach via phone or email for ongoing support. You can pause and resume the service at any time.

Cost: A typical plan of two meals a day for five days a week costs around $12.20 per meal.

Diets: Diet-to-Go offers four main plans, with some flexibility to choose your favorite meals or change plans as you go. Balance is a heart-healthy, low-sodium, weight-control diet with controlled fat, sodium, carbs, and cholesterol. Vegetarian and no-seafood options are also available. Balance Diabetes offers the same heart-healthy nutrition as Balance, but with an extra emphasis on controlling blood sugar.

Ordering: Enter your ZIP code to check available delivery, and then choose your preferred menu and how many meals you would like. There are options for five days or seven days a week, with two or three meals daily.

Delivery: Delivery days and prices vary depending on your location. Enter your ZIP code on the company’s website to see your options. Some areas also offer a pickup location so you can pick up your food to save on delivery costs.

Meal Delivery from Restaurants

There are many apps and websites that allow you to have food from your favorite restaurants delivered right to your door. Whether you want a burger from McDonald’s or a four-course meal from the Cheesecake Factory, these apps give you all your favorites at your fingertips.

Uber Eats

Uber Eats — from the ride-hailing service Uber — is one of the most popular restaurant delivery services. Uber Eats will deliver food to your door from a wide variety of restaurants.

Cost: Uber Eats has different delivery fees depending on the restaurant you order from. It can cost up to $5.

Ordering: You can either pull up the Uber Eats website or download the app on your smartphone. Type in your address, and Uber Eats will show you a list of restaurants that will deliver to your home and the delivery fee for each. You can also search for a specific restaurant or kind of food. Once you decide on a restaurant and choose what you’d like, the website will take you through a simple checkout process where you can enter your credit card information.

Delivery: Uber Eats will text or call you when they’ve arrived with your food. The company is happy to offer no-contact delivery and have its drivers leave your order on your doorstep, or you can go grab it at the door.

Postmates, Grubhub, and DoorDash

Postmates, Grubhub, and DoorDash are all the same concept as Uber Eats. You can use their apps or pull up their websites, type in your address, choose a restaurant, pay, and the food will arrive at your door. Postmates also delivers from more than restaurants; they will bring you products from places such as Walgreens and 7-11 too.